Lalmanirhat Airfield, Bangladesh - then and now

Discussion in 'Burma & India' started by Rothy, Mar 25, 2019.

  1. Rothy

    Rothy Well-Known Member

    I came across a sketch map of Lalmanirhat airfield in the war diary for 353 Lines of Communication Sub Area for 1944 (WO 172/4554). I wasn't researching airfields and knowing nothing about this one, I Googled it and eventually ended up on Maps and switched to 'satellite view'. I was surprised to see, despite the rather cloudy images, that the layout of the airfield appears to have survived almost unchanged since WW2. Elsewhere on the web I discover that an attempt was made to turn the old airfield into an airport following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, however to this day it seems that the airport has never opened.

    According to the war diary, in 1944 the airfield was used as a staging 'airport' and contained 'much secret and valuable material', large stocks of petrol and a small amount of ammunition. It had been provided with some AA defence until on 20th April 1944, the 239/44 LAA Battery, R.A. and the 11/3 HAA Battery, I.A. left without being replaced.

    By July 1944, there were concerns that the airfield was not adequately guarded, and although the responsibility for protecting the aerodrome 'against sabotage and pilferage lies on the USAAF Commander', it was decided to reinforce the current guards. Prior to this decision, the guards were provided by 96 Bengali Chowkidars (I don't know whether '96' refers to the number of men or is a unit designation) and one platoon (50 men) of the 59th Garrison Company. Additional platoons of the 59th Garrison Company were dispatched. The Garrison Company was tasked with providing 'hard core protection' only. 'Primary protection' was to be provided by U.S.-employed chowkidars.

    A chowkidar appears to be a watchman, caretaker or gatekeeper.

    Steve

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    dryan67, RobG64, Jagan and 2 others like this.
  2. Jagan

    Jagan Junior Member

    Great post. The airfield was abandoned but was a target of attention during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. IAF Hawker Hunters carried out pre-emptive strikes to find the airfield was non-operational....
     
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